What to Expect from Ford

[principalpony]

What to expect from Ford when you encounter a problem.

Our Case History:

Vehicle – Ford Explorer Limited with 2.0L Ecoboost Engine

Problem – Poor fuel economy. EPA rated Hwy – 28 mpg. What we typically get 25 mpg on 95% all hwy driving with consistent speed of 70-75 mph, very cautious driving with slow acceleration (almost no downshifts from 6th gear). Comparison of mpg with several other Explorer (all V6) owners with similar driving getting the same 24 mpg and Consumer Reports testing of Explorer AWD V6 achieving 26 mpg @ 65mph test cycle – by comparison our Ecoboost also got 26 mpg at consistent 65 mph. Using EPA ratings for comparison, the 2.0L should have achieved 5mpg better = 31 mpg. As a former ASE Certified Master Auto Tech for 25 years and auto instructor for 15 years, I have the knowledge and experience about cars to understand the factors affecting fuel economy.

Testing at 2 Ford Dealers:

11/18/13 LaFontaine Ford in Lansing, MI – tested at 60 mph for ~ 3miles – got 28.3 mpg.
01/14/14 Jarrett-Gordon Ford in Davenport, FL – testing cycle – got 22 mpg. All testing results sent to Ford.

Ford Customer Service first contacted late November. Ford Customer Service Representative, Sally Trimble, Case #CAS-3674435-R5V3W3 . BTW Ms. Trimble was/is excellent! Several conversations and emails leading to testing in FL. Ford response to test results – everything operating within parameters. No problems found.

Escalated to Ford Consumer Affairs. Only was to communicate with them is snail-mail. Sent first letter on 4/30/14 – 2.5 pages + support documentation. Reply by Representative, Chris Willis, Case #CAS-4382078 dated 5/12/14. Letter basically stated the testing results were normal, but if the problem gets worse, feel free to see our local dealer.

Not satisfied, we sent another letter to Mr. Willis asking what value did we get for our $1k investment in the Ecoboost engine if Ford is telling us there is no problem with the low fuel economy. Mr. Willis responded with a form letter thanking us for contacting Ford.

Escalated to Ford Executive Liaison Office with letter dated 7/7/14 (again only snail-mail). No response at all for over a month. Contacted Ms. Trimble and discovered the department indicated on the envelop was incorrect. It needed to state “Ford Executive Liaison Office”. Sent another letter dated 8/13/14 from Representative Marie Glaou, Case #CAS-5078568-X9S4V3 . Basically a form letter about issues affecting fuel economy.

Current Status:
It is clearly evident that Ford is doing everything to discourage and frustrate us. At this point we could just give up, in which case Ford wins this battle, but at what cost? How likely would you be to consider Ford products in future purchases with this kind of experience?

We are hoping this thread may result in someone with Ford, who actually values current their customers, will find a way to have us contacted. Hopefully that would result in some kind of resolution, not just further frustration.

 

[wifes2011xlt]

 

[adamjeeps]

Is it possible your rear brakes are dragging slightly?

 

[1995E]

What's the mileage of the vehicle?

You'd normally face bad fuel economy at the first 5,000 miles.

Also, I don't understand why you'd complain about getting 26 MPG when you're going 65 mph and 25 at 70 - 75. Remember that this an SUV and the faster you go, the more drag you produce and the more fuel needed to propel the car to those speeds. As you go faster, you're still in 6th gear, you're just applying more fuel to go faster. It is about if the extra miles you are traveling offsetting the extra fuel you are pumping into the combustion chamber.

As for a 3.5L V6 Explorer owner. I only get 20 - 23 MPG when I am not trying. When I tried, I got 26 MPG and that was only with one acceleration from a stop and not stopping until I got to campus, and I only got that a few times.

Also take into account, are you higher up in altitude? When I was in Colorado during our roadtrip, we noticed that the car would rev so high there (This was in a Toyota Camry).

One last thing, I noticed almost all cars that I have driven rarely get close to their highway MPGs. It's just not possible with constant acceleration, deceleration. It really depends on where you live.

 

[tmg19103]

I just drove about 600 miles round trip in my AWD, NA V6.

Averaged 21.5 highway only for the trip.

I get about 14.5 city.

It is what it is.

 

[MONMIX]

Oh if Al were around to see this....

 

[Bryceb]

I might get 25-26mpg downhill with a tailwind

 

[jadez03]

Oh if Al were around to see this....

A moment of silence for our fallen MPG's please...

 

[Sgt1411]

I just drove about 600 miles round trip in my AWD, NA V6.

Averaged 21.5 highway only for the trip.

I get about 14.5 city.

It is what it is.

Your bang on same as me in my Sport Ecoboost V6........21.5 highway usually staying between 65-75mph

 

[wifes2011xlt]

2 words: Marketing. Numbers.

 

[jmr061]

I have to agree with most everyone else here. You don't have an issue. You should own a Mopar.....

I have never owned a vehicle that gets close to what the sticker says as far as MPGs.

 

[LukerDooker]

The OPs stated consistent MPG are pretty good if you ask me...

If the OP has access to tools that we do not, how is this idea:

There was a post here about an owners prior car - a Pilot, that had its software reflashed by the dealer, and fuel econ went to 14/15mpg and never recovered, dealer would not reflash again/fix.

Cant the software stack of a car be reflashed properly, in as many steps and software layers as needed, so that the car is optimaly 'reset', and potentially ready to re-establish its 1st fuel econ benchmark, again, as if never driven off the lot?
...and also potentially fix other mechanical issues such as shift points, door locking inconsistencies, auto lighting problems, just anything that has a base setting in the core software...?

 

[jmr061]

May want to visit: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/why_differ.shtml

 

[peterk9]

I seem to be averaging around 22mpg in a mix of town and country driving using 91 octane.

Peter

 

[blwnsmoke]

I get 20.5 - 21mpg with my 3.5V6 NA. So if you are getting 25-26mpg, you have nothing to complain about. You are getting 25-30% better economy for your $1,000 ecoboost premium.

 

[dco43054]

Do you think the EPA estimate is what you will actually get in the real world?

Lots of things affect fuel mileage in the real world, on real roads, not the least of which in my area are the oxygenates used in fuels.

If you are looking for votes of support for your position, you don't have mine. I think you are being unrealistic.

 

[Halwg]

You have got to be kidding me. :scratch:

 

[HughCares]

Seriously??? Life's too short to get your knickers in a knot over something so unimportant (unless you have an agenda, which you are giving the impression that you do). Try calculating how much "more" you think you are paying for gas over the course of a year and you will more than likely find that it is a trivial amount and not worth stressing over as you seem to be. Relax, enjoy your ride...it is what it is...very few people receive the EPA numbers in real life driving situations, and in most cases if they did.....they are likely driving around like an old man pissing off all of the other drivers around them...

 

[principalpony]

We currently have over 25k miles on our Ex and the fuel economy has not changed since the beginning. We live in MI, fairly low elevation and no mountains. We spend 3 months in FL - fairly flat and low elevation.

Previous cars - 05 Grand Caravan, 06 Mustang GT convertible, 07 Shelby GT500, 02 PT Cruiser all got EPA Hwy rating cruising at 75-80 mph. My 12 Mustang GT gets 24 mpg hwy @ 70-75 mph, EPA rated at 26 mpg. Our Ex replaced an 09 Malibu 4 cyl that only got it's EPA hwy rating of 33 a few times. Our Ex has NEVER hit it's 28 mpg hwy rating no matter how many tricks I pull trying to improve mpg except for slowing down to 60 or less, which is NOT a highway cruising speed in the US.

Based upon the above experience and my fore stated knowledge of cars, I don't think our expectations are unrealistic. I do think that Ford did something wrong in achieving the 28 mpg rating just like they did on ALL of their hybrids.

This issue has gone beyond the problem of poor fuel economy to being an issue of how Ford treats their customers. Their procedures for issues is designed to discourage customers from pursuing the problems and does not focus on resolving the issue, but more towards avoiding the problem. Pretty cowardly if you ask me.:thumbdwn:

 

[dentalpain]

You're being a victim. Find something else in life to be upset about, cause this ain't cutting the mustard.

We currently have over 25k miles on our Ex and the fuel economy has not changed since the beginning. We live in MI, fairly low elevation and no mountains. We spend 3 months in FL - fairly flat and low elevation.

Previous cars - 05 Grand Caravan, 06 Mustang GT convertible, 07 Shelby GT500, 02 PT Cruiser all got EPA Hwy rating cruising at 75-80 mph. My 12 Mustang GT gets 24 mpg hwy @ 70-75 mph, EPA rated at 26 mpg. Our Ex replaced an 09 Malibu 4 cyl that only got it's EPA hwy rating of 33 a few times. Our Ex has NEVER hit it's 28 mpg hwy rating no matter how many tricks I pull trying to improve mpg except for slowing down to 60 or less, which is NOT a highway cruising speed in the US.

Based upon the above experience and my fore stated knowledge of cars, I don't think our expectations are unrealistic. I do think that Ford did something wrong in achieving the 28 mpg rating just like they did on ALL of their hybrids.

This issue has gone beyond the problem of poor fuel economy to being an issue of how Ford treats their customers. Their procedures for issues is designed to discourage customers from pursuing the problems and does not focus on resolving the issue, but more towards avoiding the problem. Pretty cowardly if you ask me.:thumbdwn: